Bollywood stars set to kick off world tour

TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - The A-list of Bollywood is on a
mission -- to take the glitz and glamour of Indian cinema to
the rest of the world.

Opening in Toronto on Friday, the Unforgettable Tour is
billed as the biggest live Bollywood performance outside the
subcontinent, featuring Bollywood's star couple, actress and
former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and her husband, Abhishek
Bachchan, father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan and a host of other
Indian superstars.

The three-hour singing and dancing extravaganza is to be
performed in 11 cities across North America, Europe and the
Caribbean between now and August 29 with a cast of 150.

Actress Shilpa Shetty, known to British audiences for her
controversial appearance on the reality TV show "Celebrity Big
Brother," is set to join the London leg of the tour.

Rai Bachchan, the most recognizable of the stars outside of
India, acknowledged that Bollywood is starting to appeal to an
international audience, but the tour's goal was not to gain
more Western fans.

"The fact that these shows are so welcomed with such
enthusiasm and love by the audience in itself reiterates the
reach of our cinema, of our film industry, and the way people
embrace it," she told a camera-flooded press conference.

While Bollywood produces more movies each year than
Hollywood, often topping three hours and featuring extended
musical numbers, most of its stars are unknown outside of Asia
with Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan household names in India,
but struggling for international recognition.

Amitabh Bachchan, dressed in sunglasses, jeans and a black
motorcycle jacket, said the tour's purpose is to "just to be
with the fans and spend some time with them..."
Continued...